The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal


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By Idries Shah
Illustrated by Rose Mary Santiago
Ages: 3–8
ISBN: 978-1-883536-18-3 (hardback) $18.00
ISBN: 978-1-942698-23-4 (paperback) $11.90
32 pages
When a boy visits another village, he is amazed to find the townspeople terrified of something that—just because they have not seen it before—they mistake for a terrible, dangerous animal. With his own knowledge and by demonstration, he helps them overcome their fears.
Rose Mary Santiago’s illustrations accentuate the surprise in this story in a clever way that will delight youngsters. This is the second book in this series illustrated by her, following the award-winning best seller The Farmer’s Wife.
Chosen by the Library of Congress for their 2002 children’s holiday program.
Available from Amazon in hardback, paperback and Kindle. Also available from the Apple iBooks Store.
FREE RESOURCES
Fun Projects
Step-by-step instructions for creating paper bag puppets (PDF): The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal paper bag puppets
Step-by-step instructions for creating felt characters (PDF): The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal felt characters
Manuals & Tips
Read Together manual (PDF): The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal manual for parents and caregivers
Hoopoe Books Reader’s Theater
Download the printable instruction here.
Download the printable one-act dramatic play here.
Download the reading skills assessment chart here.
OVERVIEW:
- The reader’s theater strategy combines students’ desire to perform with their need for oral reading practice. Reader’s theater offers an entertaining and engaging means of improving fluency through repetition, reading with expression, and enhancing comprehension.
- Reader’s theater is a way to involve students in reading aloud. In reader’s theater, students “perform” by reading the Hoopoe books’ scripts created for this purpose. Students can perform the scripts with or without costumes or props.
RATIONALE:
- Reader’s theater is a strategy that combines reading (and re-reading) practice and performing. Its goal is to enhance students’ reading skills and confidence by having them practice reading with a purpose. Reader’s theater gives students an authentic reason to read aloud.
OUTCOMES:
- Re-Reading to Develop Fluency:
Reader’s theater motivates reluctant readers and English language learners, and provides fluent readers the opportunity to explore genre and characterization. Hoopoe Books Reader’s Theater scripts can be used as early as first-grade. Re-reading is a key factor in developing fluency, which is necessary for comprehension. Students don’t even realize they are re-reading as they practice the script.
- Re-Reading to Develop Understanding:
The value of reader’s theater is increased when used as a strategy for increasing understanding of what is being read. Students also practice reading with expression when they take on the roles in the script.
- Re-Reading to Develop Voice:
Reader’s theater is a wonderful technique for helping readers learn to read aloud with expression and joy. Performing reader’s theater without props allows the readers to learn that the inflection in their voices needs to provide much of the drama of the story.
TESTIMONIAL:
- “I love watching my English language learners gain more fluency and confidence as they perform the Hoopoe Books Reader’s Theaters,” says educator and I Have a Dream volunteer, Leanne Lockhart. “They love hamming it up and making costumes and scenery too.”
INSTRUCTIONS:
Some students are hams — they just don’t know it until they get up in front of the group. There is no risk in reader’s theater, because no memorization is required. And, there’s opportunity for practice, so struggling readers are not put on the spot.
- Hand out a photocopied Hoopoe script
- Assign a part to each child
- Have her simply read the script aloud and act it out. That’s all you have to do.
“Magic” occurs when the students get to be on stage — even if that stage is the floor of the classroom or library. Shy children may blossom, and students develop a strong sense of community.
TIPS:
- Start slowly so students feel comfortable in the performance mode. Students do not memorize their parts; they always read from their scripts. Provide lots of opportunities for practice.
- Read the book several times, offering instructional support for new vocabulary, and for understanding the different characters. You can do many other activities with the story to develop understanding before doing the reader’s theater. *A complete set of lesson plans can be found on Hoopoe’s website.
- Students simply stand or sit in a semicircle or on a stage, if one is available.
- Model each character’s part and match roles to readers.
- If you have a larger group than the number of roles, you may have several readers’ theater groups going simultaneously.
- Work with small groups, not with the entire class, if possible.
- You might invite families or caregivers to a presentation, or invite another class to the reader’s theater enactment.
- You might also video the performance or do a radio podcast.
~May Hoopoe Reader’s Theater enliven your classroom and your students’ lives, as well as cement learning that lasts.
Teacher Activity Guide & Teacher Lesson Plan
Hoopoe Teaching-Stories prepare students to master the California Reading Common Core State Standards for Language Arts by helping them build skills in reading comprehension, literary response and analysis, and vocabulary development.
Grades PreK–1 (PDF): The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal GrPreK-1 Activity Guide
Grades K–2 (PDF): The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal GrK-2 lesson plan
Education Standards
Grade K: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal grade K ELA alignment
Grade 1: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal grade 1 ELA alignment
Grade 2: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal grade 2 ELA alignment
California Content Standard Alignment:
Grades K: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal English Standards
Grades 1: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal English Standards
Grades 2: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal English Standards
Grades K–2: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal English Language Development
Grades K–2: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal History-Social Science
Grade K: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal Visual Arts
Grade 1: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal Visual Arts
Grade 2: The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal Visual Arts
WIDA PRIME
Grades PreK–1
Grades PreK-1 All 7 PreK-1 Hoopoe titles have been correlated with the The Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials for English Language Learners (PRIME) through the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) tool (http://prime.wceruw.org/instructionalMaterials/index.aspx). Click here for a copy of the report.
Grades K–2
Grades K – 2 All 6 Grades K-2 Hoopoe titles have been correlated with the The Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials for English Language Learners (PRIME) through the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) tool (http://prime.wceruw.org/instructionalMaterials/index.aspx). Click here for a copy of the report.